Ethiopia has been excluded from an upcoming AUSSOM peacekeeping mission in Somalia due to recent diplomatic tensions with Somalia, while the US rejects novel financing model for the mission.
By Ashenafi Endale
Ethiopia will not take part in an upcoming African Union-led peacekeeping mission in Somalia, according to representatives from Mogadishu who announced the decision during a UN Security Council meeting this week.
The meeting on December 27, 2024, revolved around the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), which is set to begin in the coming week, and the session featured input from representatives of Ethiopia and Somalia.
Tesfaye Yilma, permanent representative of Ethiopia to the UN, emphasized the importance of the new mission in fighting the escalating threat posed by Al-Shabaab in Somalia.
“Extra-regional actors who have no constructive role in the region and in fighting terrorism in Somalia should be advised to abandon their reckless pursuit,” Tesfaye said in his conclusion.
Mohamed Rabi Yusuf, Somalia’s permanent representative, followed up by requesting the chair for the floor.
“Due to documented actions of Ethiopia and Somalia in the past eleven months, the federal government of Somalia has undertaken a comprehensive review of its security arrangements as we transition from ATMIS to AUSSOM. In that period, our regional partners from troop-contributing countries have shown remarkable solidarity, pledging to maintain our necessary force of 11,000 troops of AUSSOM.
This commitment addresses any security vacuum created by Ethiopia while sustaining progress in the fight against Al-Shabaab. In that vein, we emphasize that the current AUSSOM troop allocations are completed through bilateral agreements which have been in place [since] November. As Somalia moves forward, we will continue to engage in future security partnerships that serve our national and shared regional interests,” said the Somalian rep.
The speech indicates that Somalia determined who would take part in the peacekeeping mission last month, while Mogadishu was in the midst of a diplomatic row with Addis Ababa over a deal the latter made with breakaway Somaliland.
Although the Somali government has not disclosed the list of troop-contributing countries, reports suggest Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, and Burundi will take part.
Uganda reportedly will cover more than half of the 11,000 troops, according to unofficial sources.
Ethiopia has been fighting Al-Shabaab in Somalia since the first AU-led mission (AMISOM) began in 2007. AMISOM was reconfigured to ATMIS, which is set to end on December 31, 2024. AUSSOM is set to take over the following day and last for a period of one year.
For several months before amends were made in Ankara, Somali officials had been adamant they would not permit Ethiopia to take part in AUSSOM unless it backpedaled on the MoU it signed with Somaliland.
Many assumed Ethiopia would be among the troop-contributing countries after PM Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed the Ankara Declaration a few weeks ago, agreeing to patch up diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Nonetheless, the comments from the Somali representative to the UN Security Council (UNSC) all but confirm that Ethiopia will not be part of AUSSOM.
According to the representative, Mogadishu decided to exclude Ethiopia last month. However, some analysts conclude that Hassan Sheikh opted to leave Ethiopia out following a visit to Asmara just a couple of days prior to the UNSC meeting.
It was his second visit to Asmara in as many months. During the first, he was joined by Egyptian President El-Sisi, whose government has previously expressed its eagerness to take part in AUSSOM.
It is not yet clear whether Egypt will contribute troops to the peacekeeping mission.
This week’s UNSC meeting also saw the US decline to support a novel modality to finance AUSSOM. Funding the mission has been a bone of contention, even less than a week from its scheduled start date.
All other UNSC members, including Russia, China, the EU, and others, supported the ‘hybrid model’ proposed by the UK for financing AUSSOM. The model, which is based on UN Resolution 2719 passed last year, would see UN-assessed contributions cover 75 percent of the AUSSOM budget, while the remainder would be covered by the international community.
The EU, in particular, which had shouldered the bulk of the cost of AMISOM and ATMIS alone, wants to see others share the burden of financing peacekeeping missions in Somalia.
However, the US rejected the proposal.
“Our decision to abstain on this resolution is not one we took lightly. Despite our serious concerns, I want to underscore that the United States remains committed to supporting and strengthening African Union peace support operations,” said the US representative.
The US argues that conditions for a transition to the application of the resolution in Somalia have not been met, and, under the terms of the current proposal, UN-assessed contributions would end up funding more than 90 percent of the mission cost.
“This is clearly not what Resolution 2719 envisioned,” said the US representative. “The United States stands ready to work with Security Council members and the African Union to determine how the remainder of the budget would be financed. We cannot, however, vote in favor of a resolution that uses this new model without referencing the intent to transition to a consolidated budget—as was the case in Resolution 2719 and in keeping with the standard and best practice in peacekeeping.”
The dilemma over funding AUSSOM is a pressing issue for the AU Peace and Security Council, which said the uncertainty raises “huge implications for the security situation in Somalia and the entire Horn of Africa region,” according to a statement released following a meeting on December 19.
The AU sees Resolution 2719 as “the most suitable mechanism for providing adequate, predictable, and sustainable funding, in order to avoid the perennial financial challenges faced by previous missions.”
The statement indicates that Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda have formally expressed interest in taking part in AUSSOM.
